


I Do Adore

by EtoilesJaunes



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Mari is Frustrated(tm), Tikki doesn't help at all, rated T for Eiffel Tower makeout scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 07:29:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14806970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EtoilesJaunes/pseuds/EtoilesJaunes
Summary: Marinette has some New Feelings™ for Chat and she doesn't know how to process them.Because those are the feelings she only has around Adrien. And she doesn't feel the same way for Chat, right?...Right?





	I Do Adore

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song by Mindy Gledhill

“Ugh!”

Not the sound that usually accompanied the flash of pink, but Tikki wasn’t going to question it.

“That stupid — Ugh!”

Tikki might raise an eyebrow. Marinette caught her look and turned away, choosing instead to flop face-down onto her chaise. Something else was said, cut off, and ended with another muffled noise of irritation.

“Marinette?” Something else was muted in the pillow stuffing. Tikki flew closer, listening intently. “Chat Noir and his… Leaky hugs?” she tried to decipher.

Marinette turned her head just enough that she could be understood. “Chat Noir and his  _ freaking puns!” _

“Oh, dear,” Tikki said, flying closer and settling on her shoulder. “Were they especially bad today?”

“No!” The kwami was startled into hovering for a second at the outburst. “They were just the same as always. He just opens his stupid,  _ perfect _ mouth and just  _ puns _ and he’s just so — so — he’s unbelievable!” 

Marinette emphasized her statement by throwing her arms into the air before bringing them down over her head, like she was trying to force her head to become one with the pillow.

“His… Perfect mouth?” Tikki asked.

“What?” Marinette sat up, looking at the kwami with an incredulous expression. “Why would you say that?”

“Because… You… Ah, never mind,” Tikki said, choosing instead to fly over to the store of cookies Marinette kept for her. This was going to be fun. In the way that would be no fun at all, of course.

* * *

 

“Good evening, my Lady,” Chat greeted her, as usual. What wasn’t usual, however, was the little stutter her heart gave at it, and her arms tensed. What was  _ with _ her lately?

“Hey, Chat,” she said just as a breeze carried cool air towards the pair. She’d been more sensitive than the average person to the cold, even  _ before _ she was given the Miraculous, but now, it was honestly awful. There must be a cold front coming in or something, because it had  _ not _ been this cold yesterday.

“You okay, Bugaboo?” He must have caught the expression on her face. 

Ugh. Why did he always have to be so  _ sweet _ and  _ caring _ and—

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said, cutting off her own thoughts. “Just a bit cold is all.” She scowled at the skyline as if she was looking for some akuma to blame for the weather. Totally the only thing bothering her. Because if it wasn’t, and she had to admit that to herself, then—

“Well, I’m pretty warm, so if you need some heat, I’m right here,” he said. Was that a flirty glint in his eye, or was that just her? 

_ Yeah, you are pretty hot, _ she thought.  _ Woah! Let’s try that again. _

_ I can think of a few ways you could warm me up. Wink emoji. _ She had to stop herself from slapping herself in the face. Not better.

Maybe just don’t try talking. Yeah.

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his chest. He stiffened as she did so —  _ wait,  _ crap, _ he was joking, now he’s going to read too much into this and he’s going to think I like him, which is impossible because I don’t!  _ — but then he relaxed and returned the embrace, arms moving up and down her back.

_ Is getting warm supposed to feel this tingly? _

She felt something warm on her head, too, and realized he was leaning his head down on her own. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes.  _ I could get used to this. _

She was too distracted to contradict herself.

* * *

 

“Tikki! What’s  _ wrong _ with me?” Marinette was tugging on her pigtails in distress. 

“What happened?” The kwami put down her cookie. That’s how serious this was.

“I… I couldn’t even get two words together around him today. I almost couldn’t call for my lucky charm. Gah! Where did this stutter even come from?” She fell into her chair and all but slammed her head on the desk.

Tikki smiled. “The… Adrien stutter?”

“Yes!” Marinette sat straight up in her chair again, waving her hands in front of her. “I—I mean,  _ no, _ of  _ course _ not, because that would mean I  _ like _ him and I… I’m not... I’m  _ not _ crazy about him, okay?”

“Not even a little?”

“No!”

A mischievous smile crossed the kwami’s face. “So you haven’t thought about kissing his  _ ‘perfect’ _ lips?”

“Yeah…” Marinette’s expression turned dreamy, a small smile crossing her face before she snapped back to panic. “I mean —  _ no, _ why would you even  _ ask _ that? I thought you were supposed to, like, give me some divine, all-knowing kwami advice or something and make this all go away!”

“You want me to help?”

_ “Please.” _

“Fine. You say you don’t like him?”

“I know I don’t. Not like  _ that, _ anyway.”

Tikki crossed her arms. “And who are you trying to convince?”

* * *

Ladybug was pacing along the platform of the Eiffel Tower as she waited for Chat to show up for patrol. Sure, she’d been a whole twenty minutes early, but if she had to wait one more  _ second _ in her room, she was sure she was going to explode. Not that she felt any better now, but at least she had fresh air.

She didn’t see him coming until he was already at the base. Her eyes followed him as he propelled himself up to where she was.

“Good evening, my Lady,” he said, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. It felt like it was in slow motion to her, the way his eyes seemed to burn into hers, that green fire warming her entire being.

Crap.

“H—He—”  _ Heaven, help me. _ “Hello! How are you?”  _ Smooth. Totally convinced him that nothing’s wrong. _

Her knees felt weak. She gripped his hand tighter, not daring to let go of what was possibly the only thing keeping her from falling off the tower.

He was saying something else, possibly answering her question, but she couldn’t hear him. Her gaze flickered down to his lips. Maybe she could lip-read or something? Nope. Bad idea. She couldn’t look away now.

“Bugaboo?” 

_ “God, _ your lips look so nice when you say that,” she sighed.

Immediately, she realized what she had just said.  _ Maybe he didn’t hear me! _ But when she looked up, she was met with what she was sure was an identical reflection of her own wide-eyed stare.  _ Crap. _

“...What?”

“I—I— No, I mean, they  _ always _ look nice—”  _ What?! _ “—Er! That— I mean— You’re amazing! No— I—”  _ He’s still holding my hand <3 _ “I  _ adore _ you— Wait, no!”  _ Stop talking. Just stop. Moving. Your. Lips. _

_ Right.  _

_ Operation Don’t Use Your Lips To Talk is a go! _

In her state of panic, she reached forward and grabbed the bell on his suit and pulled him forward, pressing her lips to his in a frenzy.

_ This is nice.  _

_ I’m screwed. _

She jerked her head back suddenly. With how bright red her face was, she was sure she could be one of those airplane warning lights. Maybe that would be better than this. Yeah, a life of solitude was looking pretty good right now.

He let go of her hand —  _ I wonder if a flock of mountain goats will accept me as one of their own _ — and moved it to her elbow, pulling her in for another kiss. 

_ Am I dead? I’m pretty sure this is Heaven. _

She moved her newly freed hand to his shoulder and let go of his bell to move it to the back of his neck, pulling him closer,  _ closer… _

His hands shifted, then, skimming down past her hips and coming to rest at the backs of her thighs. Before she could process what was happening, he was picking her up and balancing her on the railing. His hands grabbed her waist, keeping her steady as he moved his mouth down to her neck.

Was it knowing how precarious her position was, or the feeling of his lips on the spot  _ just _ below her ear that was making her go lightheaded? Either way, she exhaled a quiet sigh, and her mouth remembered how to talk again.

“I’m so in love with you.”

His mouth paused in its exploration.  _ Way to go. You just  _ had _ to take this too far. _ He pulled back to look her in the eye, and she saw something… Vulnerable.

“Really?”

It was a whisper so quiet that she wouldn’t have heard it unless she was listening for it. Tonight, talking had produced a success rate of about four percent, so instead, she bit her lip and nodded.

The smile he gave her at that could have outshone the sun. 

“I’m so in love with you, too, Bugaboo.”

“Kiss me again?” she asked. 

And he did.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on [Tumblr](https://www.etoilesjaunes.tumblr.com) for more! <3


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